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The fees aside, it does provide a ranking or indicator of the ability of the dog. The abilities of MH dogs vary greatly from barely capable to capable of becoming an FC. A total passes and pass rate would be nice to see for breeding purposes. FT are becoming increasingly out of reach, so this type of system could help identify breeding stock and further broaden the pool of available and desirable studs beyond those that achieve FC/AFC.

again........there is another game if "rankings" and "who is better" are important.............

just saying.

Bingo!!!!! HT`s were designed to be able to pass a standard.Human nature still wants to see who has the best.
After taking 16 dogs to one of the first tests in the state of Ohio.On the way home dad and I had a discussion about the future of these.
He said in time everyone wants to know who did the best. Man was way ahead of everything. Jim

This seems pointless. What is the difference between MH-15 and MH-50. You are doing the same thing over and over, of course if they have passed it 12 times 13-50 should be no problem. To me it is kind of like the 500/1000 point club in HRC. All it shows it that you have been to a bunch of hunt tests and has little tell on the dog's abilities.

This seems pointless. What is the difference between MH-15 and MH-50. You are doing the same thing over and over, of course if they have passed it 12 times 13-50 should be no problem. To me it is kind of like the 500/1000 point club in HRC. All it shows it that you have been to a bunch of hunt tests and has little tell on the dog's abilities.

I disagree. Yes, it does show that you have been to a bunch of tests however, say your pooch HRCH's at 24 months...and you go to approximately 10 HRC tests a year. IF your dog runs for the next 8 years at a 100% pass rate you would have 2500 points. This means your dog is never injured, in heat, never breaks, nothing...perfect for 8 years...
My old dog reached the 1500 pt club at age 9...and had an entire year off 2 years before that due to health reasons. He had 60+ finished passes straight...without fail...so in my opinion the pt clubs show just how CONSISTENT a good finished retriever is.

What about the perfect retriever that's owner/handler did not get to as many test? That dog could have 10 passes but exceed in talent over a dog that has 40 passes. I agree it shows some consistency if a dog achieves a lot of MH passes but it doesn't necessarily mean he is the best of his class. Case in point, in the HRC dogs achieve points. Is a 1500 point HRCH better than a 500 point GRHRCH if both of the participate in the GRAND. Sorry, but I would say the GRHRCH dog trumps.

What about the perfect retriever that's owner/handler did not get to as many test? That dog could have 10 passes but exceed in talent over a dog that has 40 passes. I agree it shows some consistency if a dog achieves a lot of MH passes but it doesn't necessarily mean he is the best of his class. Case in point, in the HRC dogs achieve points. Is a 1500 point HRCH better than a 500 point GRHRCH if both of the participate in the GRAND. Sorry, but I would say the GRHRCH dog trumps.

While I understand your point, again I disagree. A 1500 pt dog shows consistency over TIME...A GRHRCH just shows the dogs capability to pass a test, albeit it a very difficult one, 2x and achieve 20 finished passes. Its not an argument over whats better. Its that by the AKC showing the title as MH 77 then you know by all accounts this dog has shown the bare minimum requirement atleast 77 times...he is consistent...not better than the dog whose title reads MNH, but perhaps more consistent.

You won't see a lot of points on my dogs simply because my Joe, my husband, trains professionally and we have a new crop of dogs every year trying to get their titles. This year we have ran two HRC tests , one with a 12 dog limit and one with a 8 dog limit. None of our over 2 year old dogs ran that already had their HRCH ran because we had young dogs that needed their titles(SHR, HR, HRCH). But you can bet when they do run, they always show up 100%. So on the flip side, you will see us run them in the bigger tests like the GRAND. For a person who is researching a particular dog, I believe all factors must be taken into consideration. And what about amateurs who don't have the finances or the time off to run umpteen contests? Does that make his dog anymore less talented? What about those who acquire most of their points in HRC from upland tests?